Alpine Logistics

Some time ago a climbing friend of mine mentioned a new ‘secret’ crag in Val D’Ossola with fantastic cracks on perfect granite, all bolted.

Almost a year later the desire to climb on something new reminded me of this ‘secret’ place. After a few phone calls we managed to uncover the location and approach to and were told that the grades are written at the bottom of each climb. The exposure is perfect for this time of year; full shade.

After a two hour drive and a short walk-in we arrived. Excited we spent some time checking out the sectors before gearing up. We climbed a series of excellent routes in the second sector; finger-cracks, hand-cracks, off-widths and chimneys reawakened memories of Yosemite from last summer, though obviously on a smaller scale!

Finally we returned to the first sector where we’d seen 2 good-looking lines: a slightly overhung 6c hand jamming crack called “Sangue e Mangnesite� (Blood and Chalk) and a very physical 7a following a thin overhanging crack.

The only negative points to make are that the rock is dirty (lots of spiders webs in the cracks) due to the limited number of visits and secondly that most of the climbs could have been unbolted. There are very few trad crags here in Italy and it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have a few more where the rock permits it. Anyone who doesn’t agree should check out what the US and UK have to offer…you have to try it to believe it!